Estranged couple Q and Rii back together for a play

For years, they were the poster couple of indie cinema in the city. Though Q and Rii have broken up since then, they continue to collaborate on films and now, in a first, will join forces for a stage production.
While Q has provided the music concept of Supratim Roy's Baby K, Rii is set to debut on stage as the eponymous character created by late author Nabarun Bhattacharya. Story goes that Roy, the play's director, is a close associate of Q and worked as an editor, along with Nikon, in his latest film Ludo.“That is when I discovered Rii's passion for acting. Also, the way she looks gels well with the appearance of Baby K. While adapting the works for stage, I couldn't think of any other actress apart from Rii,“ says Supratim.
The director says Rii was excited about the project the first time she heard of it. “Rehearsals are already on with her though I'm yet to lock the rest of the cast,“ he said. Isn't collaborating with Q an issue, now that the Gandu maker spends most part of the year in Goa? “Not at all. Q is always a phone call away . He gave us the music concept, while Neel Adhikari, also his close aide, is scoring for the play,“ said Supratim.
Thought to be Nabarun's “final explosion“, Baby K is about the petrol crisis in the world in the backdrop of the American invasion of Iraq. Baby K is a sex worker who survives on five litres of petrol every day. The series on her begins with Baby K's relationship with medical representative Parijat and ends with the final explosion of the human bomb.
“Long back, I had told Nabarunda that I would like to adapt Baby K for stage when he said he was thinking of continuing with the series.Some of his famous characters like Fyataru and the Mutual Man will make fleeting appearances in this play,“ says Supratim. The play will premiere at Tapan Theatre in the second week of December and sources say though Q and Rii are both part of this venture, they are working in individual capacities and that it's more of a “coming together“ and not “collaboration“. Ludo, Q's latest film, however, stars Rii in the lead.